Sana’a: A suicide bomber blew himself up on Saturday at a gathering of mourners, killing at least 30 and injuring dozens others in the restive province of Abyan, government sources said.

Ministry of defense immediately accused Al Qaida’s branch in Yemen of carrying out the attack.

Witnesses said that a man carrying explosive materials made his way into a lobby packed with dozens of members of resistance committees and set off his explosives, causing one of the deadliest single attacks on the armed tribal fighters who backed government in their fighting with Al Qaida.

The civilians came together to offer condolence to their leader in Jaar town in Abyan. The only hospital in Ja’ar couldn’t cope with the high number of victims and many critical cases were referred to the port city of Aden.

Elsewhere in the south, a suspected-US drone carried out on Saturday night an airstrike in the Yemen’s southern province of Hadaramout, killing four Al Qaida-linked militants, a local source told Gulf News.

The airstrike took place in an area near the town of Al Qatan in the vast province of Hadramout as the militants were roaming with Toyota pick-up in a remote area.

Local people said that three burnt bodies were seen scattered in the place after the explosion. The oil-rich province has seen many similar attacks targeting the hideouts of Al Qaida militants.

Suicide bomber arrested

Al Yemen Al Youm newspaper, the mouthpiece of the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, reported on Saturday that army soldiers from 21 Brigade in the southern province of Shabwa managed to identify and arrested a would-be suicide bomber carrying a bomb suit.

The paper said that the man broke through brigade’s guards and entered the mosque, apparently waiting for soldiers to gather for prayer to blow up the bomb.

MY GULF NEWS

GulfNews.com is the most widely read newspaper, and online site in English in the Middle East. With a daily BPA audited paid circulation of over 108,000, and an online audience of 3.5 million uniques every month, it is your go to source for information on the region. Sign up below to begin personalising your experience